This invention relates to a method of protecting a maintenance or construction site and more particularly to a method of protecting construction crews and equipment working in a roadway, as well as to reducing accident severity for the errant vehicle and its occupants.
At roadway maintenance and construction sites it is common practice to use conical markers, signs, flags, flashing lights, etc. to warn motorists of a traffic diversion ahead and to direct traffic away from the maintenance or construction area. In addition, particularly on high speed throughways and at other locations where there is a danger that work crews may be injured by motorists who disregard or fail to observe these warnings, temporary traffic barriers have been set up in an attempt to positively prevent an errant vehicle from reaching the maintenance and construction area. Wooden or concrete barriers are used at long term projects, while generally at projects of short duration a heavy piece of mobile equipment such as a large truck is positioned on the roadway between the work crew and the oncoming traffic. In some cases the truck is equipped with a crash cushion to reduce the severity of impact to the errant vehicle and its occupants, as well as to the truck and the work crew.
The various traffic barriers and installation procedures employed heretofore exhibit a number of disadvantages. In cases in which wooden barriers are used, they have a tendency to splinter on impact, the splinters on occasion causing a hazard by piercing the vehicle and thus creating the possibility of serious injury to the occupants. Concrete barriers, due to their weight and size are time consuming to transport, install, remove and relocate and therefore are not practical for short duration work operations or for low speed roadway conditions. In addition, these types of positive barriers can themselves constitute a hazard to errant vehicles. In situations where crash cushions are placed directly on the surface of the roadway, the transportation, installation and removal of such devices is a time consuming and laborious task.
The use of a heavy construction vehicle as a barrier has the disadvantage that an expensive or special purpose piece of equipment is tied up and unavailable for other purposes for the duration of the work project. Also, in the event of an accident the equipment is vulnerable to extensive damage rendering it out of service and subject to costly repairs and/or replacement. In the case of vehicle mounted crash cushions, such as; liquid filled cells, light-weight concrete cells, and synthetic foam cartridges; a strong, fixed backup and support structure, mounted to a heavy vehicle is often required to provide the necessary mass.